Championship Football - Weekend Odds

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Even though the Championship season is only a week old, punters seem confident that either big spending Leicester City or Sam Allardyce's West Ham United will lift the Championship trophy next May. Leicester are Championship favourites at 3/1 and if Sven-Goran Eriksson can continue to recruit top class players with Premier League experience, that price could soon shorten. City take on Reading this weekend and if the Foxes pick up all three points from that encounter they are likely to attract even more backers.

West Ham have also attracted a great deal of support due to the appointment of popular gaffer 'Big Sam' and the capture of former Bolton and Newcastle midfielder Kevin Nolan. Nolan was a revelation during the 2009/10 season when he hit 17 goals from central midfield as the Magpies sealed promotion back into the Premier League. Although the Hammers suffered an opening day defeat against Cardiff City at Upton Park, their fixture this weekend is away at Doncaster Rovers and many supporters will have West Ham marked down as banker material at the 9/10 price that is currently on offer.

Another side who have attracted support in the outright market for the Championship are Brighton and Hove Albion. Brighton romped to the League 1 title last term and with the astute Gus Poyet in charge, the Seagulls could be on the verge of something very special - especially if recent signings Will Hoskins and Craig Mackail-Smith can continue to bang in the goals like they did for Watford and Peterborough United last campaign. Brighton can be backed at 7/4 to taste victory on their away trip to Portsmouth this weekend and given Pompey's continued financial struggle the price for Poyet's side looks to be an extremely attractive quote.

The big game in the Championship for me this weekend however has to be the game at Elland Road between Simon Grayson's Leeds United and Tony Mowbray's Middlesbrough. Both sides have enjoyed success in the Premier League in recent times and there is sure to be a pulsating atmosphere when the game between the two northern rivals gets underway.

Middlesbrough are another Championship side who are not currently in the best financial health and the Teesiders have therefore had to be rather cautious this summer in the transfer market. This has left Tony Mowbray with a threadbare squad which makes the odds of 20/19 on a Leeds win a tempting price.

It is true that the Whites have not been in the best of form so far this season as Grayson's men went down to an opening day 3-1 defeat at Southampton and then had to battle back from 2-1 down to see off League 2 Bradford City in the Carling Cup during the week. However I feel such tribulations will have galvanised the Leeds squad and that a better-than-evens price well tempt many fans to back Leeds to get the better of Boro this coming weekend.

The other game on the Championship coupon that stands out for me is the clash between Blackpool and Peterborough United at Bloomfield Road this Sunday. Both sides play open, expansive football and this match could be an extremely high-scoring encounter. Having said that, it should be remembered that Posh struggled to impose themselves on many League 1 sides last term before a late surge saw them secure a play-off berth. Meanwhile, the Tangerines were battling it out against the best sides in English football. For me Blackpool look a solid wager at 3/4 as Ian Holloway's side look to have far too much quality in their ranks for Darren Ferguson's newly promoted team.

Comments

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Don't even get a mention which is typical in many of these sorts of articles in the media these days! Shows how much we have fallen out of the pundits minds in one season when we were highly fancied for an immediate return to the top flight. If we even get a mention now it's in terms of midtable mediocrity and who can blame them after the summer debacle and the loss of high-profile,high quality players without any significant replacements yet in terms of either quality or quantity